Carmageddon
SCi Interplay, MacPlay, Aspyr MediaSCi announces new Mac distributor for US and Canada - Carmageddon.com via Wayback Machine |designer = |engine = |released = Original: June 20, 1997Carmageddon news at Carmageddon.com via Wayback Machine Digital: September 27, 2012 |genre = Vehicular combat |modes = Single player, Network Multiplayer |players = 1 - 6 players |ratings = : M : 18 : MA15+ : 15+ (cut) : 12 (cut) |platforms = DOS4GW, Windows 9x, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows |media = CD-ROM |requirements = MS-DOS 6.2 / Windows 95 75MHz CPU 8MB RAM(16MB Win95) 20MB Hard Disk Space 2MB Graphics card 4x CD-ROM Drive SoundBlaster or 100% Compatible IPX (for network game) |input = Keyboard & Mouse |image2 = carmaboxus.jpg |caption2 = US cover }} Carmageddon is the first of a series of graphically violent driving-oriented video games produced by Stainless Games, published by Interplay and SCi and released June 30, 1997 on Windows PC and Macintosh. It has the dubious title of being a poster child for video game controversy. The game was notable for its realistic and ground-breaking physics, and for its in-game movie making features. It was also one of the earliest examples of a sandbox 3D driving game, and may have influenced other later games including the Driver and Grand Theft Auto series. Gameplay The aim is for the player to work their way up the ranking system, from 99th place to first. The player vehicle is pitted against a number of computer controlled competitors, in locations such as cities, mines and desert towns. Levels can be beaten in one of three ways: *Completing all the laps of the race course, as one would a normal racing game. *"Wasting" (wrecking) all the opponents vehicles. *Killing all the pedestrians in the area. There are three difficulty levels to choose from. Each level has a time limit, but more time may be gained by going through checkpoints, collecting powerups, damaging the competitors' cars, and by running over pedestrians (with bonuses awarded for style). These actions also reward the player with Credits, which can be used to make instant repairs or recover the car (after falling down a chasm, for example). They can also be used to upgrade Armour, Power and Offense stats in the Parts Shop between races. This is also the time to switch which car to drive if others have been obtained. As well as opponents partaking in the 'race', some levels also contain a number of Squad Cars, which will activate their sirens and hound the player when provoked. They can be attacked and destroyed, but do not count as opponents. A single "Super Squad Car" exists in one level, and it can be claimed if destroyed. An Action Replay is available at any point during a race. The game also had a multiplayer mode - Up to 6 players could play over a network connection. Plot The intro movie portrays the build-up to the start of a race, focusing on the drivers and their vehicles on the starting grid. Censored versions of the game had a different voiceover and some alternate footage, in order to justify the presence of zombies as opposed to humans: The ending movie was the same in all versions, showing the player mowing down race officials in the Suppressor. The Blood version had no voiceover, but the censored version had the following speech: Characters Carmageddon features 30 characters, each with their own individual vehicle and three stats; Top Speed, Weight and 0-60 Speed (Miles per hour). Each of these attributes leads to each car having pro and cons, such as light cars being fast but weak. The player can choose one of two characters to play as in the game - Max Damage (male) or Die Anna (female) - and their own username. Some cars in the game are 'stealworthy': occasionally when an opponent has been wasted, a message will pop up to notify the player that the car has been added to their garage, free of charge. All cars are unlocked upon completion of the game (including the Police vehicles), but those that were not earned are labelled 'CHEAT!'. Levels The locations of Carmageddon are varied; races take place in mine shafts, the Arizona desert, chemical facilities, city streets and on coastal roads. All are populated by pedestrians, street furniture and parked / burnt-out cars. The countryside features flora and fauna. Many levels have endless drops - if anyone falls down these (player or opponent), they are automatically recovered, but it still costs the player credits. Development Carmageddon began life in 1994 as a banger-racing game, but it was decided by publishers SCi that a license was needed to ensure success. The rights to a Mad Max video game were sought, but the rights owners could not be found. Development moved on based around a Death Race 2020 license - a sequel to the 1975 cult classic movie Death Race 2000. This brought in the 'running over people' part of the game. Unfortunately the license agreement fell through late in development; in near-final versions of the game, the .exe was still called Deathrace. Stainless decided to press on and create their own IP. Controversy The game was controversial at the time of its release, due to players being able to kill people and animals, and being rewarded for doing so. The game did not require certification, but Stainless went for it anyway... which backfired big time. It gathered a large amount of negative press coverage, culminating in one newspaper claiming in big letters that the Pope wanted the game banned (then revealing in much smaller letters this was actually a British Member of Parliament called Greg Pope, not His Holiness in the Vatican). The game had to be censored before it could be released. Release History Original version Carmageddon was released June 20th 1997, for DOS (DOS4GW) and Windows 95, priced £24.99Buy Carmageddon at Carmageddon.com via Wayback Machine. It was ported to PowerPC Macintosh computers the same year. In many regions the pedestrians were replaced by Zombies with green blood; In Germany they were replaced by Robots with black oil. Downloadable "Blood Pack" patches were quickly released onto the Internet, by Stainless themselvesConfirmation of the blood patch's release, by nobby, which would restore the human pedestrians and red blood. Expansion and collection Carmageddon Splat Pack was the only official expansion pack for Carmageddon, released in 1997. It was a standalone game, but required the Carmageddon disc to install. The pack featured 19 new cars and 8 new locations, as well as a patch to enable 3DFX Glide support in Carmageddon. The two games were later packaged together as the Carmageddon Max Pack, which was also available in a Limited Edition. An unofficial collection titled Level Pack 8: Carmageddon was released, putting several community maps and utilities onto CD. Another unofficial community pack called Charming Demon was released by Mind Multimedia, also in 1997. Re-releases Carmageddon was included in several compilations when in the budget stage of its original run, accompanying games ranging from Hard Core 4x4 and Interstate '76 to MDK and Earthworm Jim. After winning their court battle, Stainless was able to sell the original Blood version of Carmageddon at retail with an 18 BBFC rating (although the Blood Patch had already been released by this time). During the 2012 Carmageddon: Reincarnation Kickstarter campaign, it was announced that the Carmageddon Max Pack (Carmageddon and the Splat Pack bundled together) would be re-released through the Good Old Games online store.Coming Soon! Carmageddon + Splat Pack - Good Old Games GOG specialize in digital distribution of older games, updating them to "ensure compatibility" with modern Windows computers. It was released on 27 September 2012 for $9.99, but anyone who pledged more than $25 to the Kickstarter received a voucher for a free copy of the game. 'For mobile devices' Later in the campaign, a port of Carmageddon to mobile devices was revealed to be in the works.CarMOBgeddon! It's Carma1 on your MOBILE THINGS!!To be released on iOS (iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch) and Android in summer 2012, the game features improved graphics resolution, a choice of controls (digital touch-screen/analogue touch-screen/tilt), and the ability to upload replays to YouTube. Released October 17, 2012, anybody could download the iOS version for free in the first 24 hours of its release, as a thankyou to Kickstarter backers. Music The game featured a music score version of Fear Factory's album Demanufacture, with the song 'Zero Signal' being used as the opening theme. Three songs from this album were used without lyrics for the game. These were Demanufacture, Zero Signal (which had the piano ending omitted) and Body Hammer. Modification The game is open to a significant amount of customization, and many tools are available for doing so. Many object definitions (i.e. a cars acceleration, a powerups duration etc.) and physics numbers are in encrypted text files, but these can be decrypted with the IWANTTOFIDDLE cheat or external apps. Community-created vehicles and levels can be added, pedestrians can be re-skinned with new looks, and the WAV audio can be replaced. The game also has a hi-res SVGA mode, doubling the resolution to 640x480. You can enable it by either right clicking on a shortcut for the game: Go to properties > shortcut and under target, there should text saying where "CARM95.EXE" is located. Add -hires to the end of that line, so it looks like this: "C:\Program Files\Games\Carmageddon\CARM95.EXE" -hires Another way is to execute the CARM95.exe file in the command-line, navigating to the Carmageddon directory with the "CD C:\%CarmageddonDirectory%" (Change Directory) command and typing "carm95 -hires" (excluding quotes) In some cases, enabling this will fix a problem some people with powerful CPUs have experienced, where the clock in the game runs a bit faster than it should. Taglines :UK: Drive to survive! :Germany: Fahr zur Hölle! (Correctly translated into English it means "Go to Hell!") :US: The Racing Game for the Chemically Imbalanced :Israel: ''?יש לך ביצים להיות מלך הכביש ''(English: "Do you have the balls to be king of the road?") See also * OpenC1 - Porting the game to XNA External links * Instruction Manual (UK) hosted on Dropbox * Listing on SCi's Offical Site * GameSpot's Carmageddon Review * Review scores at Gamerankings * Edge Magazine's The Making of... Carmageddon * Thunderbolt Games article * Trivia at MobyGames * Carmageddon FAQ by RCS (V1.95) Gallery Image:FrankStill.gif|Tony as Max on the Prat cam Image:Wastedcarma1.gif|A wasted vehicle after colliding with a lamppost Image:Pedzomrob-carma1.gif|Pedestrians: Human, Zombie, Robot Image:7A.png|Driving through Bleak City Image:7B.png|On the Bleak City Highway Image:Map-C1.gif|The Map screen Image:C1 Replay.png|The Action Replay feature Image:Ovni.png|The UFO References pt:Carmageddon Category:Carmageddon games Category:Mac OS games Category:Windows PC games